A type of computer program known as a drawing program has become available for many years on a variety of computers. This type of program allows a user to "draw" graphic images on a computer screen by manipulating a joystick, mouse, graphic pad or other input device. Once drawn on the screen, the image can be stored, printed, edited or manipulated by the computer (for example, scaling and coloring). More recently, "object-oriented" versions of such programs have become popular application programs. Examples of such programs include the Micrographics DRAW.RTM. program developed and distributed by Micrographics, Inc. and MICROSOFTWORKS DRAW.RTM. developed and distributed by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash.
Object-oriented drawing programs allow a user to create "objects" such as lines, squares, circles arcs, text, etc. The user can then manipulate these objects by changing the size, location, color, line weight, etc, so as to create a particular drawing. The resulting collection of graphical objects can be stored and printed to produce a final drawing. Many of these programs operate with graphical operating systems such as the WINDOWS.RTM. operating system developed and sold by Microsoft Corporation or the SYSTEM 7.RTM. operating system developed and sold by Apple Incorporated, Cupertino, Calif. These graphical operating systems allow the drawings to be made in one or more "windows", or rectangular drawing areas, on the display screen.
It is common practice in such drawing programs to allow the user to "group" or associate a plurality of simple objects into one group object by means of techniques well-known and understood in the art. The group object can then be manipulated by the drawing program as though it were a single entity. This grouping technique allows a complex picture to be constructed of simpler, but yet still complex parts. Each picture part can be either a simple object or a complex group object. In this way a picture of considerable detail and complexity can be constructed from a small set of fundamental objects. Standard building block or shapes can be created using this grouping technique, saved and utilized in many pictures. These reusable picture building blocks are commonly known as "clip art" and are commercially packaged and sold as such.
In the process of constructing a complex picture from simple and group objects it is often necessary to modify a preexisting group by changing some aspect of one or more of its component objects. This modification has been traditionally accomplished by "ungrouping" the group object or breaking the group into its constituent component objects. The component objects then can be individually manipulated.
The ungrouping technique has a drawback in that it is often difficult to reconstruct the group object after the modifications have been performed on the component objects. For example, there are two common techniques used to construct a group object. The first technique consists of selecting the group component objects by outlining an area (commonly a rectangle) that properly contains all of the component objects that are supposed to be in the group. After the desired objects are contained within the rectangle they are all selected by a conventional mechanism. The second method for forming a group is to individually select and add component objects one-by-one to the group object.
The first technique is often difficult to use when the drawing becomes complicated because it is difficult to place the rectangle around the desired objects without including other objects that are not intended to be included in the group. The second technique can be quite tedious if the group contains many objects.
Consequently, it is among the objects of this invention to simplify the editing or modification of group objects.